First experiments probing the collision of parallel magnetic fields using laser-produced plasmas
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First experiments.pdf
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Author(s)
Fox, W.
Igumenshchev, I.
Town, R. P. J.
Stoeckl, C.
Glebov, V.
Rosenberg, Michael Jonathan
Li, C. K.
Seguin, Fredrick Hampton
Frenje, Johan A
Petrasso, Richard D
Date Issued
April 2015
Journal
Physics of Plasmas
Publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Citation
Rosenberg, M. J. et al. “First Experiments Probing the Collision of Parallel Magnetic Fields Using Laser-Produced Plasmas.” Physics of Plasmas 22, 4 (April 2015): 042703 © 2015 AIP Publishing LLC
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Novel experiments to study the strongly-driven collision of parallel magnetic fields in β ∼ 10, laser-produced plasmas have been conducted using monoenergetic proton radiography. These experiments were designed to probe the process of magnetic flux pileup, which has been identified in prior laser-plasma experiments as a key physical mechanism in the reconnection of anti-parallel magnetic fields when the reconnection inflow is dominated by strong plasma flows. In the present experiments using colliding plasmas carrying parallel magnetic fields, the magnetic flux is found to be conserved and slightly compressed in the collision region. Two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell simulations predict a stronger flux compression and amplification of the magnetic field strength, and this discrepancy is attributed to the three-dimensional (3D) collision geometry. Future experiments may drive a stronger collision and further explore flux pileup in the context of the strongly-driven interaction of magnetic fields.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4917248
